Lori Cuthbert Editor-in-Chief, Discovery NewsIt’s likely that yes, the brain remains conscious for a few seconds after a head leaves its body.

When the guillotine was commonly used in revolutionary France, there were numerous reports of decapitated heads moving for up to 30 seconds, blinking eyes and showing expression. But scientists studying decapitated rats’ heads think the brain only functions for about four seconds after being severed.

There is a wave of brain activity about 40 seconds after decapitation in rats and in humans, though that researchers think might be the real line between life and death, when the neurons in the brain lose their electrical charge and completely stop functioning.

There have been accounts of people surviving what’s called internal decapitations, where the bones of the skull separate from the spine. In those cases, the neck has to be rebuilt to keep the head aloft.